Episode 42: Food Peer Pressure—When Yum Turns into Yuk

What can you do when your child stops liking something just because a friend said, “yuk?” Peer Pressure can be a real problem.

The traditional solution to food peer pressure, tell your kids that different people like different things, doesn’t always work.

In this episode I talk to Amy. Her daughter loved guacamole until one day her friend said it smelled funny. Her daughter agreed. Since then, Amy’s daughter insists she still likes guacamole but…she hasn’t actually eaten any. What to do?

The solutions to Food Peer Pressure that Amy and I discuss include concrete tools that have as much to do with feelings as with food:

What it feels like to have someone else say Yuk to your Yum.

How someone else’s observation can spur a sensory awakening.

When peer pressure is not meant to be pressure.

Responses children can use that help them “stick up” for their favorites.

How to use playtime to work through different scenarios.

We also talk about how to engage teachers in the solution because, in addition to the guacamole, Amy has a banana “thief situation” on her hands!